Cruising Up to Stanton's Park Avenue

Park Ave.

11200 Beach Blvd.

Stanton, CA 90680

When I put my mind to visit a restaurant in every city in OC, I had no doubts about where I would be eating when we finally made it to Stanton. I have lived in OC all of my life, and yet I can not ever remember spending any significant time in this three square mile city. I am sure Stanton is a great city to live in, but I guess I have never had a reason to visit this landlocked metropolis until I had to pick a restaurant to eat at here. When people think restaurants in Stanton, Park Ave. is almost always mentioned near the top of their list, so we made the trek up the five freeway to see what all the fuss was about.

Park Ave has gotten a lot of acclaim throughout the years. They have been called the best restaurant in Orange County, by Orange Coast Magazine. They have received glowing reviews from both the LA Times and the Orange County Register. They are mentioned in the very condensed OC portion of the Zagat guide. In fact, on your way to the restroom at Park Ave, they have plastered their walls with tons of reviews for you to peruse. With all of this buildup, I was really looking forward to a great dinner.

We had seven o'clock dinner reservations the day before Thanksgiving. I had expected the restaurant to be dead because when I called to make reservations they said they would be closing early because of the holiday, but there were plenty of people dining inside when we arrived, and well after we left. From the outside, this restaurant resembles a 70's style house that you could imagine the Brady kids living here. I checked for astroturf in the backyard but was surprised to have found none.

Once inside the restaurant, the vibe changes to, "rat pack" sleek. It would not be a stretch to think of Sammy, Frank, and Dean eating here for dinner. The front dining room, where we were seated, had about fifteen tables or so and is dominated by a large rock wall. The color scheme at Park Ave. is governed by browns and dark red booths. The lighting is low, but the noise level in the dining room was pretty high. Enough with the ambiance of this restaurant, let's get to the food.

Starting us off is the breadbasket that was placed on our table after sitting down. The bread here was pretty good. Not anything that rocked our world, but a nice start to the meal, and because we were so hungry, this breadbasket disappeared rather quickly.

I'm a sucker for avocados, so when I saw that they had Grilled Avocado ($10) on the menu, I knew we would be trying this appetizer. Avocado never disappoints, and it doesn't here either. This simple appetizer is seasoned with sea salt and extra virgin olive oil, then served alongside sourdough toast. The grilling of the avocado really brought out its creaminess. This would be a great, easy way to prepare avocados at home. The sourdough went well with this, but the avocado was so big we definitely could have used more crisps to go along with this.

I am really picky about macaroni and cheese, so I usually do not try it in restaurants. Both Katie and I could not resist trying the Spicy Lobster Mac N Cheese ($15) at Park Avenue though. This mac and cheese was topped with bread crumbs, roasted red peppers, and made with three kinds of cheese. We did not get the spiciness that I thought we would, but that was made up for by the abundance of lobster in this cup. Every spoonful of mac and cheese contained a very generous amount of lobster as well. The mac and cheese were very comforting, but could not outshine the lobster here. This was a small portion, but very rich in flavor.

Wedge salads are a lot of trouble to eat, but they are hard for me not to order. This Iceberg Wedge ($8) was prepared simply, with only peppered bacon, a few tomatoes, and a blue cheese dressing. The dressing here must have been homemade. It had a great thick texture to it, with a great blue cheese kick. The bacon was crisp and the pepper really showed up here as well. The iceberg is grown in their garden and was very fresh. One of the better wedge salads I have had.

As much as I love wedge salads, Katie's, "go-to", salad seems to be the Heirloom Tomatoes ($12). Park Ave's version of a Caprese salad came with fresh buffalo mozzarella, basil, and a balsamic vinaigrette. She called this salad, "one of the best I have had". All of the ingredients were so fresh that it was hard for her to say anything bad about this dish. The tomatoes had a great freshness about them that really brought out their sweetness.

We might as well stick with what Katie ordered for dinner, the special of the night, the Wild Swordfish ($30). This swordfish was topped with a mound of arugula and lemon juice. Katie had not had swordfish before, so she was a little taken back by the steak like the feel of the fish. She did end up liking this though. She liked that the dish came together by having the bitter-tasting arugula, with the sourness from the lemons and the sweetness of the fingerling potatoes. Really made this a balanced plate. She's not sure she would get this again but was glad to have tried it on this visit.

Before I started this blog three years ago, I had never had a short rib. I know, sheltered right? Now I can not get enough of them. The Bone-In Short Rib ($30) was so tender it just fell off the bone when I lifted up my fork to cut it. This short rib was like a giant piece of the most tender stew meat you have ever had. Not over seasoned, it let the natural meat flavors rule the roost. This was served with a braised celery, which added a nice texture to the dish, but not much else, and a horseradish whipped potato. The promise of horseradish was diminished after my first few bites of these potatoes. I liked the smooth texture of the potato, but the flavor was pretty pedestrian. I would get this again though because the short rib was so good.

Dessert time at Park Ave and Katie got to choose first. She had the Macintosh and Golden Delicious Apple Turnover ($8). This turnover was topped with brown sugar and bourbon ice cream. All of the ice creams at Park Ave are made in house by Head Baker, Alice Castro. Not the best tart she has had, but what made this dessert for her was the brown sugar bourbon ice cream. It really kicked this dessert up a few notches.

Since I saw that they make their own ice cream here and that they have a Peanut Butter Ice Cream Sundae ($7), I decided to splurge with my own dessert as well. This sundae was pretty good-sized, with three scoops of peanut butter ice cream as the base. The ice cream was very smooth, with a nice consistency. I really got the peanut butter flavor from the ice cream. The sundae was complimented with mini chocolate chips and a marshmallow cream that was nicely toasted on top. I am not too big of a fan of marshmallows, but this one was pretty good. I would have liked more chocolate on this sundae, but that is just because I am a chocolate and peanut butter fiend. Not a bad end to this meal though.

Park Ave. was a very solid place to have dinner. I think a lot of the hype around this restaurant stems from the fact that it is not in a place that you would expect to get this kind of meal. This is the kind of restaurant that could exist easily in other areas of OC though. The food was all pretty good, with very few exceptions. I thought some of the portion sizes were a little on the small side for the price being paid, but all of the food here is very fresh. They have their own large garden in the back, where they grow many of their own herbs, fruits, and vegetables. This extra effort really shows up in the quality of the food they serve. The service on the night we were here was very good. Rachel kept great tabs on us all night and kept things moving along at a very gentle pace. After finishing up our meal, we were invited to stroll through the gardens in the back. Like many bloggers and print media people before I have said, it was hard to believe we were in Stanton. We were, and I can now say that I have spent some considerable time in the city of Stanton.

Out of five birds of paradise, (because this is the official flower of the city of Stanton), five being best to zero being worst, Park Ave gets 3.5 birds of paradise.

For more information on Park Ave, click here: https://www.parkavedining.com/

Zipping Over to ZPizza

ZPizza 

25672 Crown Valley Parkway

Ladera Ranch, CA 92694

There really seems to be a rebirth of pizza this year in OC. Pizza places pop up quicker than Santa's ringing bells in front of the stores during this holiday season. Almost every time I open my email, there is another pizza place coming to town. Pie-ology, Blaze Pizza, Pitfire Pizza, and others are either here or on their way. One fall afternoon, I opened up my email, and there was something from ZPizza. I had not been to ZPizza in years, but they wanted us to come to try their food, so we waited until a crisp winter night and headed out to give them a try.

Compared to others in the chain pizza game, ZPizza has been around forever. They are a true Orange County original, started in Laguna Beach in 1986. That was so long ago. I was still in high school back then. Anyways, ZPizza has now expanded to 18 states, as well as international locations in Mexico, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Proving that pizza is a global phenomenon.

ZPizza strives to serve pure food. Their menu promotes natural ingredients, including MSG-free sausage and pepperoni, antibiotic and hormone-free chicken, and many vegan and gluten-free options. For those of you that know me, all of this stuff doesn't really make a difference to me. The end result is that the food must taste good. So let's see how it turned out for us.

We got to ZPizza at about six on a Friday night. This ZPizza is more geared towards takeout than dining in. They have three four-person tables, and we were the only ones eating here during our visit. All of their other business was for pickup. A steady stream of customers kept the young staff busy making plenty of pizzas. We ordered at the counter and waited about fifteen minutes for our food. This is what came to our table.

Starting us off was the Chicken Caesar Salad ($7.95). They say that the salads at ZPizza can feed one to two people, and they are right. Katie and I ate plenty of this salad, which was a small size. This salad contained hand-leafed romaine, grilled chicken, shaved Parmesan, and large croutons, all with a zesty Caesar dressing. The produce was fresh, adding plenty of tender chicken and Parmesan cheese. The one drawback of this salad was the homemade croutons. We like croutons with some crunch, and these failed to deliver.

Pizza Party Time and Katie selected one of ZPizza's rustic pizzas. This Mediterranean Pizza ($8.95) came with mozzarella and feta cheeses, artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, Greek olives, oregano, and pili oil. Katie loved this fresh-tasting pizza. She liked the creaminess of the cheeses, along with the fresh toppings. She would ask for easy olives on this next time, though. The size of this pizza is what impressed me the most. More than enough, she had some of this for lunch the next day.

I am sure that most of our blog's regular readers are pretty shocked by my pizza choice, the Thai Pizza ($9.95). I was trying to branch out a little bit, and I have been craving Thai food as well. This pizza used peanut sauce as a base, then piled on the mozzarella, spicy chicken, red onions, cilantro, carrots, bean sprouts, and Serrano chilies. I thought with all of these big-time flavors on this pizza, it would be blazing hot, but the heat here was very subtle. I would get this pizza with a little extra peanut sauce on further visits. That stuff was excellent. The dough at ZPizza is made fresh daily, and it really showed here. It had a great chew while holding all of the toppings admirably. A different pizza than I am used to, but a pizza that I really enjoyed.

It is easy to see why ZPizza has been around for as long as it has. They make some delicious pizzas that you can also feel good about eating. After eating here, we did not feel as sluggish as after eating other pizzas. That is probably due to ZPizza using the freshest, most natural ingredients. There are plenty of other pizzas for us to try on future visits here and some sandwiches that sound pretty good. Portion sizes were excellent at ZPizza, and the prices were exceptional value. This restaurant really hit the mark on this cold winter night.

We would like to thank everyone at ZPizza for the opportunity to try their pizza. We would also like to thank Janine Nickel for getting in touch with us and providing us with this incredible chance to try ZPizza.

For more information on ZPizza, click here to visit their website: http://www.zpizza.com/

Popping In On Pop N Sons - CLOSED

Pop N Sons Diner

4812 N. Dale Mabry Hwy.

Tampa, FL 33614

I love it when a plan gets executed perfectly. We had just gotten off of our cruise ship and had to high tail it over to our hotel so we could drop off our bags and get to the Buccaneers game at Raymond James. We checked our bags and found out that we had about an hour to kill before the one o'clock football game. Since we did not eat breakfast on the boat, this would be the perfect opportunity to find a place to have breakfast. Wanting to avoid the high stadium food prices, we asked the girl at the front desk about nearby breakfast spots. She recommended Pop N Sons Diner, so that is where we headed.

We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express, and Pop N Sons is about a five-minute walk from the hotel. Pop N Sons will not blow you away with their excellent decor. They play up the 50s diner vibe here but do not take it to the extremes of having their waitresses wearing poodle skirts or anything. There are some 50's memorabilia on the walls and fifties rock and roll coming through the speakers. That is just part of the atmosphere here.

This place really has a homey vibe. We arrived for our first visit at about 11 on a Sunday morning. As soon as we walked in, the average age of the customers dropped by about two decades. Almost every table was packed, but we found one near the back. Everyone who walked in was greeted by name and told that their coffee or drink was coming. We were given some time to review the menu, which we chose to provide us with energy for the football game.

I grouped these all together because they were all basically the same. The breakfasts here were all standard items in any other diner across the US. I had the Three Eggs, Three Bacon, and Three Pancakes ($6.99). The eggs were cooked just as I wanted them, the bacon was very crisp, and the pancakes were the best part of the breakfast. They were heavy, without being overbearing. They soaked up the maple syrup well and had a good buttermilk tinge. Katie got the Two Eggs with Bacon ($6.59). She had her eggs over easy and went with the home fries instead of the hash browns. Katie thought the home fries were seasoned well and were less greasy than she thought they would be. Sabrina ordered two eggs and sausage ($6.59) and a fruit cup ($2.49), which she thought was part of her meal but wasn't. Way to read the menu correctly, Sabrina. She really wanted Anthony to ask the waitress about it, but she would have been wrong, as usual.

We made two trips to Pop N Sons during our short stay in Tampa. We had a late afternoon flight, so we had lunch here before we went to the airport. Again, the menu for lunch at Pop N Sons is standard for a typical diner. Katie surprised me with her food choices on this trip, and her selection of a Tuna Melt ($6.99) was not what I expected her to have here either. This tuna melt came on rye with Swiss cheese. She thought the sandwich was pretty solid. She even said that this was one of the best tuna melts she has had in a while.

I also had a melt, but mine was the Patty Melt ($6.99). This traditional patty melt consisted of ground beef, grilled onions, and Swiss cheese, all on rye bread. The burger patty was thin, but this was a solid-tasting patty melt. The bread here was what made this sandwich. It had a great rye flavor and really went well with this sandwich. The french fries were average and nothing to write home about.

Pop N Sons is not anything that is going to wow you. What they will do, though, is make you honest, old-school meals here. In this age of chain restaurants, places like Pop N Sons are a nice respite from the cookie-cutter type places that dot almost every corner of every town in America. The food here was fine, but what makes it even better is that you support a local business while eating here. Our server, Grace, knew almost all her customers' names when they walked through the door. That does not happen at your local Chili's or chain restaurant. Pop N Sons is open 24 hours, so whatever time hunger hits, you can bypass Denny's and try it out. We had a great conversation with the owner, Jerry, as we paid our bill. He felt these types of restaurants may soon be a thing of the past. That is a shame, but the good news is you still have time to experience authentic diner food at Pop N Sons.

Out of five weasels (because when I hear the word pop, I almost always think of the nursery rhyme, "Pop Goes the Weasel"), five being best to zero being worst, Pop N Sons Diner gets 2.5 weasels.

To find out more information about Pop N Sons Diner, check them out here: http://www.popnsons.com/

Football Sunday at Champions Sports Bar - CLOSED

Champions Sports Bar

700 S. Florida Ave.

Tampa, FL 33602

When you are on vacation, you sometimes have to go with the flow. We were in Tampa to depart for a seven day Caribbean cruise. We had gotten to Tampa a few days earlier and were all set to get on the ship this Sunday afternoon, but Mother Nature had other plans for us. The Port of Tampa had been closed because of fog, so the ship was out circling in the ocean. How airplanes can fly in fog with no problem, but a big cruise ship can not enter a port still amazes me, but I am sure there are reasons for this.

Anyways, we found ourselves stuck on dry land on a Sunday afternoon, so we did what we would normally do at home when this is the case, we looked for a place to watch football. We had already turned our rental car in, so we had to find a place within walking distance. The first sports bar we had come to was packed, so we returned to our phones and found Champions Sports Bar at the Marriott Waterside.

The Champions Sports Bar is located right across the street from the Tampa Bay Times Forum. I imagine that when there used to be hockey this bar could get packed. This Sunday there was no problem finding a seat. This bar was pretty good sized. It is broken up into three separate rooms, with plenty of seating on high table tops and booths. There were easily about fifty people here, but because of the size of this place, it did not seem too cramped.

Hotel bars can sometimes be very dreary places. This was not the case at Champions. The folks over at Marriott really have taken some time to turn this into a well-themed sports bar. They have the requisite sports plaques and pennants hanging on every wall. They have even gone so far as to construct an ice hockey penalty box in the front room of the bar. Sabrina had a great time cross-checking me into the fiberglass of the penalty box. TVs are plenty at Champions. Whichever seat you choose, there will be at least three TVs in your line of sight. We were getting hungry, so let's see what came out of the kitchen for us.

We had just had breakfast a couple of hours ago, so we just opted for some appetizers at Champions. The first one was the Nachos ($14). Nothing says sports bar more than nachos. This large portion came with tortilla chips, BBQ pork, cheddar cheese sauce, melted cheddar cheese, tomatoes, jalapenos, green onions, and olives. Served on the side were sour cream, red and green salsa, and guacamole. First the positives about this plate of nachos. The portion size was pretty large, the BBQ pork was a nice change of pace for a plate of nachos, and the chips refrained from getting too soggy. Now on to the negatives. Why did they have to include cheese sauce with these? Melted cheese would have been just fine here. I have a big gripe against cheese sauces anyways, but I was not the only one that did not like this cheese sauce. Also, the salsas and guacamole did not add any flavor here. The salsas were very watered down, and the guacamole was more like the guacamole that you get out of the bag in the supermarket aisle. If they were going for the ballpark experience nachos they nailed it. I just don't like ballpark nachos.

I will give Champions some credit for having some very colorful food. The Cheese Fries ($10) was no exception in the color department. These waffle fries were topped with cheddar cheese sauce (again!), melted cheddar cheese, bacon bits, tomato, and green onions. The fries were okay but only served lukewarm. You already know how I feel about cheese sauce, so I won't get into that again. I could be wrong, but I think these bacon bits were actually real bacon. They added a good smoky flavor to these fries and were one of the few good things this dish had going for it.

Katie and Sabrina shared the Classic Chicken Quesadilla ($13). This quesadilla was stuffed with chicken, pepper jack cheese, cilantro, and green onion, then served with pico de gallo, sour cream, and guacamole. Besides being way overpriced, this quesadilla had many things going wrong with it. The cheese inside had a weird texture, almost like it was half cheese and half sauce. Weird. The tortilla was pretty hard. Not that it was stale, but it also had texture issues. The condiments here added nothing but moisture to the quesadilla. The only thing this quesadilla had going for it was that the chicken was not dried out. There could have been more chicken on this, but at least it wasn't dry.

When we are at home we judge places where we watch football on three things. Service, atmosphere, and food. Champions Sports Bar had two of these things going for it but failed miserably on the food portion of these categories. The food here was not our favorite at all. The appetizers we got were all below average, with no big flavors involved in them. Not only were they all pretty bland, but they were all overpriced as well. We should have expected that from a hotel bar though. The atmosphere here was pretty laid back for a sports bar. Not too many fans screaming at the TVs, but some cheering was going on. Definitely, a place you could bring the kids if you wanted to watch the games. The service we had on this afternoon was pretty good. Our server really took very good care of us. Always made sure our glasses were full, cleared plates quickly, and had a good personality. Wish the food would have matched the atmosphere and service.

Out of five storms, (because the arena football team, the Tampa Storm have won five championships, more than any other arena football league team), five being best to zero being worst, Champions Sports Bar gets 2 storms.

For more information on Champions Sports Bar, click here: http://www.marriottmodules.com/restaurant/hotels/hotel-information/travel/tpamc-tampa-marriott-waterside-hotel-&-marina/champions/

Forgoing Our First Choice, For First Watch

First Watch

3712 Henderson Blvd.

Tampa, FL 33609

This is another review of a place that we did not mean to go to, but ended up at anyway. We had it all set up that we would be having breakfast at Datz Tampa, but the wait for Datz was an hour and a half. I am sure it would have been pretty good, but that is an awful long time to wait, when you are hungry now. Plus, the parking situation was not the greatest at Datz. So, it was off to Yelp to help us find a breakfast place that might not have as long of a wait. After perusing the local area, we found First Watch.

The wait at First Watch was a more manageable twenty minutes. Not being from the area, we had no clue how this restaurant was going to be. The restaurant was very busy, so I thought this would be a sign that we could get a good breakfast here. Writing this post I learned that First Watch is a chain restaurant with over 100 locations spread across 15 states. They opened up shop in Pacific Grove, California in 1983, but left the West Coast three years later to base their business in Florida. This move must have worked for them, because their web site lists a bunch of restaurants that are coming soon. Our twenty minute wait was up, and I was more into the food that was coming soon to our table.

The vibe inside reminded me of a Coco's, or maybe a Corner Bakery with waiter service. The menu here is definitely breakfast focused. They do serve lunch, but you will not see a dinner option offered. All First Watch restaurants close at 2:30. Thus the reason for their nickname, the Daytime Cafe. I always thought this would be a good move for IHOP's to close their doors at 3, because how many people eat dinner at IHOP? That is another topic for another post, because right now it was breakfast time. Let's take a look at the food that was brought out to our table.

Anthony will start us off with his choice for breakfast, the Burrito Vera Cruz ($8.29). First Watch's take on a breakfast burrito combined scrambled eggs, chorizo, green chili's, onions, and jack and cheddar cheeses, wrapped in a wheat tortilla, then topped with a Vera Cruz sauce and sour cream. Anthony must have really enjoyed this burrito because it was gone within minutes. He said that the flavor of this burrito was milder than he is used to, but the ingredients tasted very fresh. This large burrito was served with a side of seasoned potatoes and fresh fruit.

Simple Sabrina went the very basic route with her breakfast. The Traditional ($6.99) comes with two eggs, any way that you want them, (Sabrina got them scrambled to match her brain!), choice of breakfast meat, seasoned potatoes, and an English muffin. This was all pretty standard breakfast food on this plate. Nothing that really stood out. I have decided that turkey sausage might be a healthier option, but I am not a big fan of it. The meat inside is too densely packed, and not enough fat, but I guess that is the whole point.

The menu at First Watch is of course really heavy on the egg dishes, and some of my favorite egg dishes in general are skillets. When I saw the Market Hash Skillet ($8.49) I knew that Katie would zero in on this choice. It has some of her favorite items included; two scrambled eggs, potato hash, mushrooms, zucchini, onions, red peppers, spinach, mozzarella and herbed goat cheese. I would have missed the breakfast meats with this one, but Katie really enjoyed this. She liked the cut up veggies and the unusual cheese choices on this skillet. She claims she would get this again.

Predictably I also had a skillet breakfast, but mine was of a more traditional variety. The Bacon and Onion Hash ($8.29) caught my attention when I first opened up the menu, so it was no contest I would be having that for breakfast. This hash included seasoned potatoes, bacon, roasted onions, jack and cheddar cheese, and two eggs, which I had sunny side up. This skillet was pretty good, not as flavorful as I thought it would be, but still had some punch to it. I would have liked to have had more cheese on this though.

Not that I did not have enough to eat with just the skillet, but I also ordered Two Chocolate Chip Pancakes ($4.59). I was a little worried when I ordered these because the pancakes at First Watch are listed on the menu as multi grain pancakes. To me that means healthy, but I had the chocolate chips ones to help counteract the healthiness. These pancakes were pretty good sized, and a little lighter than I expected. These pancakes were good, but I would have liked a few more chocolate chips in these. If I had not read that these were multi grain, I never would have known.

First Watch was an admirable fill in for our other breakfast place we were headed to, but nothing that rocked our world. The food was on par with Coco's, and definitely better than anything you could get at IHOP. The coffee drinkers at our table enjoyed that they put a whole pot of coffee on our table, to eliminate waiting for servers to refill the coffee mugs. Speaking of service, our waiter was very solid. He had a very cheery personality, and to prove what a small world it is, he used to live in Orange County. It was fun talking about our hometown with him. The next time we are in Tampa we will try to get to Datz earlier.

Out of five sunrises, (because First Watch is open right after the sun rises, but is never open when it sets), five being best, to zero being worst, First Watch gets 2.5 sunrises.

For more information about First Watch, click here: http://www.firstwatch.com/

Straying From Our List in Tampa

Brickhouse Tavern and Tap

1102 N. Dale Mabry Hwy.

Tampa. FL 33607

When I am going on vacation, I always do a lot of research on the best places to eat in our destination city. I spend about two to three days looking up where the best food is served. I compile a list with more than enough places to try. We were only going to be in Tampa for a day and a half and I had nine places written down. I knew we would not be making it to all of them, but I did not want to miss out on any great food. We generally never veer from our list, but this is one instance where we did.

My friend Mike lives in Tampa and we were going to be meeting up for dinner with him and his lovely wife on Saturday night. I had mentioned that we wanted to watch some college football while we were eating. He suggested that we meet at Brickhouse Tavern + Tap. This place was not on my list, but I figured a local would know all the great spots to eat.

Brickhouse Tavern has 16 locations open or coming soon. They are spread out across 7 states and cater to what their website calls, "the common man". They are kind of going for a man cave vibe here. They have a section in the restaurant where they have leather recliners, with cup holders and TV trays. There are large TVs plastered on every wall of the place. No matter where you look there is a TV within your line of sight. Most locations including this one in Tampa feature a covered outside patio with a fire pit. Dark colors and wood dominate the dining area, lending to the sleek atmosphere here.

We got here at just about 8pm, and the place was jumping. Lucky for us Mike and Kim had gotten a prime table, where we would be able to see the USC/Oregon game. This place was loud, with spirited rooting for many of the football games. Mike had definitely picked a great place to watch the games, but would the food make us happy that we abandoned our list of places to eat in Tampa?

I must have been hungry because a lot of the appetizers here sounded pretty good. We settled on the Zucchini Curls ($6.50). They took ribbons of zucchini, battered them with panko and Parmesan, then served them with a Siracha ranch. This description really got my mouth watering when I read it on the menu, but it failed to deliver. The zucchini was sliced in tiny ribbons, and the only thing that was prominent with this appetizer was the panko breading. In a fried zucchini, the zucchini should be the star of the show, not the breading. The zucchini was pretty greasy, and not easy to eat. The Siracha ranch was good, but could not save this appetizer.

Mike says that he gets the same thing on most of his visits here, the Steak and Shrooms ($19). The steak here is two tenderloin filets, topped with mushrooms, caramelized onions, and smoked provolone. Side items include fried mushrooms with a piquant sauce, and cheddar mashed potatoes. Mike seemed pretty pleased with his selection. I thought this was a good amount of food for under twenty dollars.

Both Kim and Anthony got the Kobe Burger ($14). I know that about 99 percent of most Kobe burgers on menus are not really Kobe burgers. Kobe refers to a specific breed of Wagyu cattle raised in and around Kobe, Japan. The price for this beef is about ten dollars an ounce, so if this was real Kobe, this burger would cost in the neighborhood of $80. That would be an expensive burger. The menu at Brickhouse claims that this is wagyu beef, hand molded, then topped with sauteed onions, roasted tomato, brie cheese, and roasted red pepper aioli. Kim seemed to really enjoy her burger, but Anthony had a different opinion. He felt the burger was average tasting, and not worth spending the extra 4 dollars for the supposed Kobe experience. The highlights for him with this plate were the tater tots and the solid bun of the burger.

Simple Sabrina did not want to go all fancy like her husband's Kobe choice, so she got the BLT ($8.50). This all-American classic sandwich came with a good amount of thick bacon, lettuce, tomatoes, and mayo, all on Texas toast. She really enjoyed this, and I would have enjoyed a bite of it, but she was very stingy with doling out samples of her dinner. I thought she knew I was a food blogger.

This unusual oblong burger goes by the name of the Gun Show Burger ($9.50). It is topped with all the produce you would expect on a burger, along with Swiss cheese, Dijon mustard, and a fried egg. Katie liked her first bite of this burger, but then felt that it became too much. The toppings of the burger really detracted from the burger patty, which was actually a good thing because it was dry and under seasoned. She would not get this burger again.

Throughout the menu at Brickhouse Tavern they have designated some items as their Brickhouse special recipes, this is one of those items. The Prime Rib Sandwich ($12.50) comes with sliced beef, provolone cheese, onion strings, green peppercorn au jus, and a creamy horseradish sauce. Like most of the items we have had so far at Brickhouse, the description of this out shined the actual dish. The beef was not very tender and really lacked any taste. The au jus and the horseradish followed suit, by adding nothing but moisture to the sandwich. The provolone proved to be too mellow here as well, and should have been swapped with a different cheese choice, maybe Swiss. Very disappointing.

One of the few items that caught our attention at Brickhouse Tavern were their Tater Tots, which is one of the options you can get with your burger or sandwich. Definitely opt for these instead of their mediocre fries. These were fried very crisp, while the potato inside maintained its integrity. Way better than the frozen tater tots I had as a kid. Not something that you always see on menus, so these were a unique treat.

Dessert time, and we passed around the Apple Crisp ($5.50) and Carrot Cake ($5.50). I am very partial to carrot cake, and this one was pretty good. The cake portion was moist, with a pretty good spice to it. The cream cheese frosting was not too heavy on the cream cheese, which is something I like. The apple crisp was good, but I liked the carrot cake better. The apples were abundant and they had plenty of ice cream on this. You could not go wrong with either of these desserts.

Besides the desserts and the tater tots, there was not much here that would bring us back food wise. Our dinners sounded so good on the menu, but they failed to deliver when they hit the table. One bright spot for Brickhouse was that our service was really good. Our waitress Jerrica really kept us well taken care of, and made sure all of our needs were met. I did not think the prices here were too out of control, including the drink prices. They offer over 70 beers here, with most pints selling for less than a $5 bill. If I had to sum this place up, I would call Brickhouse a less sleek looking Yard House, with much worse food. A good place to watch football, but don't expect too much from the food. We shouldn't have strayed from our list of places to eat to come here.

Out of five army airships, (because the highway this restaurant is located on is named after an army aviator in World War I), five being best to zero being worst, Brickhouse Tavern and Tap gets 2 army airships.

For more information about Brickhouse Tavern and Tap, click here: http://brickhousetavernandtap.com/

Tampa Bay Brewing Company, More Than Just Beer

Tampa Bay Brewing Company

1600 E. 8th Ave.

Tampa, FL 33605

I admit it. When we reached Tampa Bay Brewing Company, I was ready to throw in the towel. We had eaten a late breakfast, had gone to Cigar City Brewing for a tour and tasting, and all I wanted to do was go back to the hotel and take a nap before we were going to have dinner in about three hours. This was not meant to be. Our merry group of tourists decided to take the trolley to Ybor City. My nap would have to wait.

Ybor City is a historic neighborhood in Tampa. It was founded in the 1880's by cigar manufacturers. For the next 50 years, millions of cigars would be rolled by factory workers here. The cigar factories are gone, but the neighborhood remains a historical landmark. In fact, 7th Avenue here has been designated as one of the 10 greatest streets in America by the American Planning Association. The area has seen a rebirth of sorts with a lot nightclubs and restaurants opening up. Tampa Bay Brewing Company is one of these businesses that has opened up in Ybor, and a place that we decided to take a break from all of our shopping and snapping pictures.

Tampa Bay Brewing Company or TBBC, as some locals and some lazy out of town food blogger's, like myself call it, has been in operation since 1996. In 2006 they moved to their current location, in the centrally located plaza level of the Centro Ybor. The restaurant/brewery is pretty good sized. They have outside and inside seating. They also brew their beers on the premises. They have 16 serving tanks, 12 of which used to hold beer at the Bass Ale Brewery in England.

I had this place on my list of restaurants to try in Tampa, mainly because this brewery was on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, but I knew in our current stuffed to the brim state, we would not be eating too much here. The menu here is pretty large, with lots of food items incorporating their beers and ales. All of the usual pub grub is here. Appetizers, burgers, and pizzas can be found on the menu, but they also feature some fancier entrees, like a plank salmon, a center cut pork chop, and even some spicy curry mussels. All of this would have sounded delicious if we had more room, but this was not the case on this afternoon.

The coaster on the table told us that beer is our friend, so there is always room for friends right? So by that logic there is also room for beer. Even though we had just been to Cigar City Brewery, both Anthony and I wanted to try the beers at TBBC. Lucky for us they had a sampler, so we could try all of the beers they offer. They always have nine brews on tap, plus a rotating selection of seasonal beers. Our sampler included ten glasses that Anthony and I got to drink from. I am by no means a beer aficionado, but some of these were not to my, or Anthony's liking. Both Anthony and I seemed to favor the lighter choices on our beer journey here. The True Blonde Ale, the Wild Warthog Hefeweizen, and the Red Eye Amber Ale were some of the ones that stood out for us.

We did not have much room for food, but we saw the Iron Rat Stout Shepherd's Pie ($11.00), and could not be persuaded  from trying it. The owners of TBBC are from England, so I had very high hopes for this, and it did not let me down. This version of Shepherd's pie used chopped sirloin, assorted veggies, a rich sauce, white cheddar mashed potatoes, and then a cheddar jack cheese over the potatoes. The result was one of the best shepherd's pies I have had. We had no problem finishing this off in record time. The veggies were cooked to a perfect crispness, the sauce coated the well cooked beef nicely, and the potatoes were light and fluffy, with a good hint of cheese to them. We were all tempted to order another one of these, but dinner was only three hours away.

I do not like reviewing a place just based on one dish, but I really wanted to share this shepherd's pie with all of you. I wish we had more time at TBBC, and were not so full from eating and drinking. at other places. I watched the Diner's, Drive-Ins and Dives video on YouTube, and the other items they made on the show looked equally as good. The service on our visit here was pretty solid. Our waiter made sure we were well taken care of. The atmosphere here seemed pretty laid back. Not too stuffy, but definitely not a dive. We heard the trolley in the distance and knew that it was time to get back to the hotel. Nap time had finally come, and I knew I would be dreaming of the shepherd's pie for sure.

Out of five cigars, (because of the link between Ybor City and the cigar industry), five being best to zero being worst, Tampa Bay Brewing Company gets 3 cigars.

For more information on Tampa Bay Brewing Company, click here: http://www.tampabaybrewingcompany.com/index.php